Partition Table Corruption

G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

After an abortive attempt to install an evaluation linux os on a second
physical hard drive, I have a (semi) corrupted partition table on that
drive.

Originally it had a FAT32 (backup, bootable) XP installation, an NTFS Data
Drive (accessible from my master XP installation) and an 8Gb free space for
the new OS.

Now I can still boot into the FAT32 XP install. I can boot my normal C:
drive XP and both versions of XP can see the NTFS data drive correctly.

Now the problem: my partitioning software (Powerquest Partition Magic 8.0)
now refuses to have anything to do with the drive and just marks the whole
thing as "BAD". Partition Info gives the following diagnostic showing that
there is now an ExtendedX partition "enclosing" the FAT32 and NTFS logical
drives:

============================================================================
===============================
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 14946 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63
Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect
StartSect NumSects
============================================================================
===============================
0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 1023 254 63
63 240,107,427
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are: 0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 14945 254 63
63 240,107,427
NO NAME 63 0 00 0 2 1 0B 318 254 63
126 5,124,609
Error #105: Partition didn't begin on head boundary.
ucBeginHead expected to be 0 or 1, not 2.
63 1 80 319 0 1 07 1023 254 63
5,124,735 218,467,935
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are: 63 1 80 319 0 1 07 13917 254 63
5,124,735 218,467,935
63 2 00 1023 0 1 05 1023 254 63
223,592,670 1,012,095
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values are: 63 2 00 13918 0 1 05 13980 254 63
223,592,670 1,012,095


============================================================================
===============================
Partition Information for Disk 2: 117,240.0 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect
TotalSects
============================================================================
===============================
ExtendedX Pri 117,240.0 0 0 63
240,107,427
EPBR Log 2,502.3 None -- 63
5,124,672
G:NO NAME FAT32 Log 2,502.3 63 0 126
5,124,609
D: NTFS Log,Boot 106,673.8 63 1 5,124,735
218,467,935
Warning #113: Logical starting at 5124735 overlaps enclosing extended
volume.
Error #114: Logical starting at 5124735 is not one head away from EPBR.
EPBR Log 494.2 63 2 223,592,670
1,012,095
Warning: EPBR partition starting at 223592670 is without logical partition.
Unallocated Log 8,063.9 None -- 223,592,670
16,514,820


So the question is, how can I restore the partition information to keep the
NTFS data drive intact back to something that I can manipulate in my
partitioning software? I've experimented with direct editing of the current
partition info (PTEDIT) with no success.

My thought was that I should have the first partition as the FAT32 drive,
then an extended partition with the NTFS then an extended partition with the
free space - but I can't seem to get the ordering right and have to restore
back to this (semi) corrupt state for windows to work.

Any ideas?

Regards
Richard
 

pegasus

Distinguished
Jul 29, 2001
59
0
18,630
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

"Richard Broughton" <richard@blaircottage.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
news:IPpNc.197$ld7.184@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
> After an abortive attempt to install an evaluation linux os on a second
> physical hard drive, I have a (semi) corrupted partition table on that
> drive.
>
> Originally it had a FAT32 (backup, bootable) XP installation, an NTFS Data
> Drive (accessible from my master XP installation) and an 8Gb free space
for
> the new OS.
>
> Now I can still boot into the FAT32 XP install. I can boot my normal C:
> drive XP and both versions of XP can see the NTFS data drive correctly.
>
> Now the problem: my partitioning software (Powerquest Partition Magic 8.0)
> now refuses to have anything to do with the drive and just marks the whole
> thing as "BAD". Partition Info gives the following diagnostic showing that
> there is now an ExtendedX partition "enclosing" the FAT32 and NTFS logical
> drives:
>
>
============================================================================
> ===============================
> Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 14946 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63
> Sectors/Track
> System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect
> StartSect NumSects
>
============================================================================
> ===============================
> 0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 1023 254 63
> 63 240,107,427
> Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
> Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
> Actual values are: 0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 14945 254 63
> 63 240,107,427
> NO NAME 63 0 00 0 2 1 0B 318 254 63
> 126 5,124,609
> Error #105: Partition didn't begin on head boundary.
> ucBeginHead expected to be 0 or 1, not 2.
> 63 1 80 319 0 1 07 1023 254 63
> 5,124,735 218,467,935
> Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
> Actual values are: 63 1 80 319 0 1 07 13917 254 63
> 5,124,735 218,467,935
> 63 2 00 1023 0 1 05 1023 254 63
> 223,592,670 1,012,095
> Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
> Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
> Actual values are: 63 2 00 13918 0 1 05 13980 254 63
> 223,592,670 1,012,095
>
>
>
============================================================================
> ===============================
> Partition Information for Disk 2: 117,240.0 Megabytes
> Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect
> TotalSects
>
============================================================================
> ===============================
> ExtendedX Pri 117,240.0 0 0 63
> 240,107,427
> EPBR Log 2,502.3 None -- 63
> 5,124,672
> G:NO NAME FAT32 Log 2,502.3 63 0 126
> 5,124,609
> D: NTFS Log,Boot 106,673.8 63 1 5,124,735
> 218,467,935
> Warning #113: Logical starting at 5124735 overlaps enclosing extended
> volume.
> Error #114: Logical starting at 5124735 is not one head away from EPBR.
> EPBR Log 494.2 63 2 223,592,670
> 1,012,095
> Warning: EPBR partition starting at 223592670 is without logical
partition.
> Unallocated Log 8,063.9 None -- 223,592,670
> 16,514,820
>
>
> So the question is, how can I restore the partition information to keep
the
> NTFS data drive intact back to something that I can manipulate in my
> partitioning software? I've experimented with direct editing of the
current
> partition info (PTEDIT) with no success.
>
> My thought was that I should have the first partition as the FAT32 drive,
> then an extended partition with the NTFS then an extended partition with
the
> free space - but I can't seem to get the ordering right and have to
restore
> back to this (semi) corrupt state for windows to work.
>
> Any ideas?
>
> Regards
> Richard

If I understand you correctly then you can currently see all partitions,
except that PQMagic does not like the structure of the partition table.
If this is correct then you probably have three options:

a) Live with the problem and forget about PQMagic.
b) Fix the problem with a tool such as ptedit.exe.
c) Walk around the problem.

Option a) seems risky. You might lose the lot one day.

Option b) looks very labour intensive. You might spend
many hours, and get precisely nowhere. You might even
lose a partition, by entering an invalid value while in ptedit,
thus making the partition invisible for ptedit. Been there, done that!

Option c) involves a small outlay but is guaranteed to work: Buy
or borrow a 40 GByte hard disk (they are cheap), then copy
everything from the problem partitions to this disk while running
WinXP. This will allow you to delete & recreate the problem
partitions, still under WinXP. When your partitions are fixed,
copy everything back to where it came from.

If this was my machine then I would use yet another approach:
- Make all partitions visible with ptedit.exe.
- Connect the new disk as a slave disk.
- Boot the machine with my trusty Bart PE CD.
- Zip every partition to a file on the new disk, complete with permissions.
- Delete all existing partitions on the old disk with delpart.exe.
- Repartition the old disk.
- Copy everything back to where it belongs, restoring permissions.
- Use bootpart.exe (or the Recovery Console) to restore the
boot environment for each OS.

At some stage I would also reset my computer clock. Yours is
running fast.
 
G

Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Just a side note as well. If you partitioned and formatted your drive
with a utility that came with your harddrive, especially if you use an
overlay, Partition Magic is going to give back bad reports. It sounds
as though you used Partition Magic to make the partitions and it was
working before you installed then new Linux OS. You can always try
loading the Recovery Console and doing a FIXMBR and a FIXBOOT DRIVE
LETTER, but I highly doubt that will help in this situation either.

----
Nathan McNulty


Pegasus wrote:
> "Richard Broughton" <richard@blaircottage.freeserve.co.uk> wrote in message
> news:IPpNc.197$ld7.184@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
>
>>After an abortive attempt to install an evaluation linux os on a second
>>physical hard drive, I have a (semi) corrupted partition table on that
>>drive.
>>
>>Originally it had a FAT32 (backup, bootable) XP installation, an NTFS Data
>>Drive (accessible from my master XP installation) and an 8Gb free space
>
> for
>
>>the new OS.
>>
>>Now I can still boot into the FAT32 XP install. I can boot my normal C:
>>drive XP and both versions of XP can see the NTFS data drive correctly.
>>
>>Now the problem: my partitioning software (Powerquest Partition Magic 8.0)
>>now refuses to have anything to do with the drive and just marks the whole
>>thing as "BAD". Partition Info gives the following diagnostic showing that
>>there is now an ExtendedX partition "enclosing" the FAT32 and NTFS logical
>>drives:
>>
>>
>
> ============================================================================
>
>>===============================
>>Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 14946 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63
>>Sectors/Track
>>System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect
>>StartSect NumSects
>>
>
> ============================================================================
>
>>===============================
>> 0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 1023 254 63
>>63 240,107,427
>>Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
>>Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
>> Actual values are: 0 0 00 0 1 1 0F 14945 254 63
>>63 240,107,427
>>NO NAME 63 0 00 0 2 1 0B 318 254 63
>>126 5,124,609
>>Error #105: Partition didn't begin on head boundary.
>> ucBeginHead expected to be 0 or 1, not 2.
>> 63 1 80 319 0 1 07 1023 254 63
>>5,124,735 218,467,935
>>Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
>> Actual values are: 63 1 80 319 0 1 07 13917 254 63
>>5,124,735 218,467,935
>> 63 2 00 1023 0 1 05 1023 254 63
>>223,592,670 1,012,095
>>Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
>>Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
>> Actual values are: 63 2 00 13918 0 1 05 13980 254 63
>>223,592,670 1,012,095
>>
>>
>>
>
> ============================================================================
>
>>===============================
>>Partition Information for Disk 2: 117,240.0 Megabytes
>>Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect
>>TotalSects
>>
>
> ============================================================================
>
>>===============================
>> ExtendedX Pri 117,240.0 0 0 63
>>240,107,427
>> EPBR Log 2,502.3 None -- 63
>>5,124,672
>>G:NO NAME FAT32 Log 2,502.3 63 0 126
>>5,124,609
>>D: NTFS Log,Boot 106,673.8 63 1 5,124,735
>>218,467,935
>>Warning #113: Logical starting at 5124735 overlaps enclosing extended
>>volume.
>>Error #114: Logical starting at 5124735 is not one head away from EPBR.
>> EPBR Log 494.2 63 2 223,592,670
>>1,012,095
>>Warning: EPBR partition starting at 223592670 is without logical
>
> partition.
>
>> Unallocated Log 8,063.9 None -- 223,592,670
>>16,514,820
>>
>>
>>So the question is, how can I restore the partition information to keep
>
> the
>
>>NTFS data drive intact back to something that I can manipulate in my
>>partitioning software? I've experimented with direct editing of the
>
> current
>
>>partition info (PTEDIT) with no success.
>>
>>My thought was that I should have the first partition as the FAT32 drive,
>>then an extended partition with the NTFS then an extended partition with
>
> the
>
>>free space - but I can't seem to get the ordering right and have to
>
> restore
>
>>back to this (semi) corrupt state for windows to work.
>>
>>Any ideas?
>>
>>Regards
>>Richard
>
>
> If I understand you correctly then you can currently see all partitions,
> except that PQMagic does not like the structure of the partition table.
> If this is correct then you probably have three options:
>
> a) Live with the problem and forget about PQMagic.
> b) Fix the problem with a tool such as ptedit.exe.
> c) Walk around the problem.
>
> Option a) seems risky. You might lose the lot one day.
>
> Option b) looks very labour intensive. You might spend
> many hours, and get precisely nowhere. You might even
> lose a partition, by entering an invalid value while in ptedit,
> thus making the partition invisible for ptedit. Been there, done that!
>
> Option c) involves a small outlay but is guaranteed to work: Buy
> or borrow a 40 GByte hard disk (they are cheap), then copy
> everything from the problem partitions to this disk while running
> WinXP. This will allow you to delete & recreate the problem
> partitions, still under WinXP. When your partitions are fixed,
> copy everything back to where it came from.
>
> If this was my machine then I would use yet another approach:
> - Make all partitions visible with ptedit.exe.
> - Connect the new disk as a slave disk.
> - Boot the machine with my trusty Bart PE CD.
> - Zip every partition to a file on the new disk, complete with permissions.
> - Delete all existing partitions on the old disk with delpart.exe.
> - Repartition the old disk.
> - Copy everything back to where it belongs, restoring permissions.
> - Use bootpart.exe (or the Recovery Console) to restore the
> boot environment for each OS.
>
> At some stage I would also reset my computer clock. Yours is
> running fast.
>
>